Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Voters Fire NRA Backed US Representative

Some days, you can find hope in headlines. Voters, dragging the Republican't party out of the 19th century into the 20th.

[BIG NEWS -- Rachel Maddow reports on last night's special election for Congress in Illinois:

"Robin Kelly made her support for gun reform a centerpiece of her campaign. She was running against someone who had long touted her A rating from the NRA. And the A rating from the NRA lost -- the F rating from the NRA won."]

[In the special election to replace Jesse Jackson, Jr. in Illinois’ 2nd congressional district, former state Rep. Robin Kelly, a supporter of a federal assault weapons ban, cruised to victory in the Democratic primary tonight over a field of candidates including former U.S. Representative Debbie Halvorson. While Kelly’s victory was not altogether unexpected, her total vote share (52 percent in a multi-candidate field) was surprisingly strong, and followed an expenditure of more than $2 million in the race by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, according to the New York Times.

Citing her opposition to gun safety reforms and past support from the National Rifle Association, Bloomberg spent heavily to damage Halvorson’s candidacy, funding TV ads singling her out for attack. In the final two weeks of the campaign, the New York mayor explicitly backed Kelly as his candidate, and his financial support likely helped boost the size of her victory.]http://www.salon.com/2013/02/27/nra_candidate_defeated_in_illinois/